1. Excavating and Lifting Part 3
Chapter 3
Excavating and Lifting
Part 3

2. 3-7 CRANES
Heavy Lift Cranes
Tower Cranes
Job Management

3. 3-7 CRANES
Cranes are primarily used for lifting, lowering, and transporting loads. They move loads horizontally by swinging or traveling.
Most mobile cranes consist of a carrier and superstructure equipped with a boom and hook as illustrated in Figure 3-22.
The current trend toward the use of hydraulically operated equipment includes hydraulically powered telescoping boom cranes.
The mobile telescoping boom crane shown in Figure 3-23 is capable of lifting loads to the top of a 24-story building.

4. FIGURE 3-22: Components of a crane

5. FIGURE 3-23: Large mobile hydraulic crane with telescoping boom
FIGURE 3-23: Large mobile hydraulic crane with telescoping boom. (Courtesy of Grove Worldwide)

6. 3-7 CRANES
Some specialized types of lifting equipment used in steel construction are described in Chapter 14.
The major factor controlling the load that may be safely lifted by a crane is its operating radius (horizontal distance from the center of rotation to the hook).

7. 3-7 CRANES
For other than the horizontal jib tower cranes to be described later in this section, this is a function of boom length and boom angle above the horizontal.

8. 3-7 CRANES
Some of the other factors influencing a crane's safe lifting capacity include:
the position of the boom in relation to the carrier,
whether or not outriggers (beams that widen the effective base of a crane) are used,
the amount of counterweight, and
the condition of the supporting surface.

9. 3-7 CRANES
Safety regulations limit maximum crane load to a percentage of the tipping load (load that will cause the crane to actually begin to tip).
Crane manufacturers provide charts, such as that shown in Figure 3-24, giving the safe load capacity of the machine under various conditions.

10. 3-7 CRANES
Notice that hook blocks, slings, spreader bars, and other load-handling devices are considered part of the load and their weight must be included in the maximum safe load capacity calculation.
Electronic load indicators are available that measure the actual load on the crane and provide a warning if the safe capacity is being exceeded.
A standard method of rating the capacity of mobile cranes has been adopted by the PCSA Bureau of the Construction Industry Manufacturers Association (CIMA).

11. 3-7 CRANES
Under this system, a nominal capacity rating is assigned which indicates the safe load capacity (with outriggers set) for a specified operating radius [usually 12 ft (3.6 m) in the direction of least stability].
The PCSA class number following the nominal rating consists of two number symbols. The first number indicates the operating radius for the nominal capacity.
The second number gives the rated load in hundreds of pounds at a 40-ft (12.2-m) operating radius using a 50-ft (15.2-m) boom.

12. 3-7 CRANES
Thus the crane whose capacity chart is shown in Figure 3-24 has a nominal capacity of 22 tons (19.9 t) at a 10-ft (3-m) operating radius.
Therefore, this crane should be able to safely lift a load of 22 tons (19.9 t) at a radius of 10 ft (3 m) and a load of 8000 lb (3629 kg) at an operating radius of 40 ft (12.2 m) with a 50-ft (15.2-m) boom.
Both capacities require outriggers to be set and apply regardless of the position of the boom relative to the carrier.

13. FIGURE 3-24: Crane load capacity chart (Courtesy of Grove Worldwide)

14. FIGURE 3-24: Continue

15. 3-7 CRANES Heavy Lift Cranes
Cranes intended for lifting very heavy loads are usually crawler-mounted lattice-boom models such as that shown in Figure 3-25.
The crane shown has a maximum lifting capacity of 230 tons (209 t) and a maximum lifting height of ft (113.3 m).
To lift even heavier loads, several cranes can be used together or the crane can be modified to allow the use of extra counterweight.

16. FIGURE 3-25: Large Crawler-mounted lattice-boom mobile crane
FIGURE 3-25: Large Crawler-mounted lattice-boom mobile crane. (Courtesy of Manitowoc Cranes, Inc.)

17. 3-7 CRANES
When a modified counterweight is used, some method must be provided to support the counterweight when there is no load on the hook.
One method of accomplishing this is to remove the crane from its mounting and support the counterweight and boom butt on a circular track called a ring mount.

18. 3-7 CRANES Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figure 3-23.
Such an attachment for the crane shown in Figure 3-26 can boost the maximum capacity to 600 tons (544 t).

19. FIGURE 3-26: Crane with ring attachment
FIGURE 3-26: Crane with ring attachment. (Courtesy of Manitowoc Engineering Co.)

20. 3-7 CRANES
Tower Cranes
Another special type of crane is the tower crane, illustrated in Figure 3-27.
The tower crane is widely used on building construction projects because of its wide operating radius and almost unlimited height capability.
Major types of tower cranes include:
horizontal jib (or saddle jib) cranes,
luffing boom cranes, and
articulated jib cranes as illustrated in Figure 3-28.

21. FIGURE 3-27: Tower crane on a building site
FIGURE 3-27: Tower crane on a building site. (Courtesy of Potain Tower Cranes, Inc.)

22. FIGURE 3-28: Major types of tower cranes

23. 3-7 CRANES
The majority of tower cranes are of the horizontal jib type shown in Figure 3-27.
The terminology for this type of crane is illustrated in Figure 3-29.

24. FIGURE 3-29: Terminology of a horizontal jib tower crane
FIGURE 3-29: Terminology of a horizontal jib tower crane. (Courtesy of Potain Tower Cranes, Inc.)

25. 3-7 CRANES
However, luffing boom (inclined boom) models (see Figure 14-8) have the ability to operate in areas of restricted horizontal clearance not suitable for horizontal jib cranes with their fixed jibs and counterweights.
Articulated jib cranes are able to reposition their hinged jibs to convert excess hook reach into added hook height.

26. 3-7 CRANES
Thus, such cranes can be operated in either the horizontal or luffed position.
Types of tower crane by method of mounting include:
static (fixed mount) tower cranes,
rail-mounted tower cranes,
mobile tower cranes and
climbing cranes.

27. 3-7 CRANES
Climbing cranes are supported by completed building floors and are capable of raising themselves from floor to floor as the building is erected.
Most tower cranes incorporate self-raising masts.

28. 3-7 CRANES
That is, they can raise themselves section by section until the mast or tower reaches the desired height.
Atypical procedure is as follows (refer to Figure 3-30).

29. FIGURE 3-30: Self-raising tower crane mast
FIGURE 3-30: Self-raising tower crane mast. (Courtesy of FMC Construction Equipment Group)

30. 3-7 CRANES
The crane lifts an additional tower section together with a monorail beam and trolley (A).
The monorail beam is fastened to the crane's turntable base and the new section is trolleyed close to the tower.

31. 3-7 CRANES The turntable base is unbolted from the tower.
The climbing frame's hydraulic cylinders lift the climbing frame and the new section is inserted into the climbing frame using the monorail beam trolley (B).

32. 3-7 CRANES
The climbing frame is then lowered and the new section is bolted to the tower and the turntable base (C).
As always, tower crane capacity depends on the :
operating radius,
amount of counterweight, and
the mounting used.

33. 3-7 CRANES
The lifting capacity of a representative horizontal jib tower crane is shown in Table 3-10.
The weight of the hook block has been incorporated into Table 3-10.
However, the weight of all other load handling devices must be included in the calculated weight of the load.

35. 3-7 CRANES Job Management
A number of attachments besides the basic hook available to assist the crane in performing construction tasks.
Several of these attachments are illustrated in Figure 3-31.

36. FIGURE 3-31: FIGURE 3-28 Lifting attachments for the crane
FIGURE 3-31: FIGURE 3-28 Lifting attachments for the crane. [Permission to reproduce this material has been granted by the Power Crane & Shovel Assn. (PCSA), a bureau of the Construction Industry Manufacturers Assn. (CIMA).Neither PCSA nor ClMA can assume responsibility for the accuracy of the reproduction.]

37. 3-7 CRANES
Among these attachments, concrete buckets, slings, and special hooks are most often used in construction applications.
The skull cracker (wrecking ball) is a heavy weight that is hoisted by the crane and then swung or allowed to drop free to perform like a huge sledge hammer.
It is used to break up pavement and for demolition work.

38. 3-7 CRANES
The simplest form of pile driver, a drop hammer, uses a similar action to drive piles.
The hammer is hoisted and then dropped onto the pile cap to hammer the pile into the soil.
Pile drivers are discussed in more detail in section 10-3.

39. 3-7 CRANES
High-voltage lines present a major safety hazard to crane operations.
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations prohibit a crane or its load from approaching closer than 10 ft (3 m) to a high-voltage line carrying 50 kV or less.
An additional 0.4 in. (1 cm) must be added for each kilovolt over 50 kY.

40. 3-7 CRANES
These safety clearances must be maintained unless the line is deenergized and visibly grounded at the work site or unless insulating barriers not attached to the crane are erected which physically prevent contact with the power line.
Crane accidents occur all too frequently in construction work, particularly when lifting near-capacity loads and when operating with long booms.

41. 3-7 CRANES
In an effort to reduce U.S. crane accidents by ensuring that crane operators are fully qualified, a National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators has been formed.
The purpose of the commission is to establish and administer a nationalwide program for the certification of crane operators.

42. 3-7 CRANES
Some suggestions for safe crane operations include the following:
Carefully set of outriggers on firm supports.
The crane base must be level. Safe crane capacity is reduced as much as 50% when the crane is out of level by only 3o and operating with a long boom at minimum radius.

43. 3-7 CRANES
Use a communications system or hand signals when the crane operator cannot see the load at all times. Make sure that all workers involved in the operation know the hand signals to be used.
Provide tag lines (restraining lines) when there is any danger due to swinging loads.
Ensure that crane operators are well trained and know the capability of their machines.
Check safe-lifting-capacity charts for the entire range of planned swing before starting a lift. Use a load indicator if possible.